"The Help"

Life has never been easy for African Americans, especially during the 1960's, the setting for this movie. Skeeter is a young woman, desperate to break into journalism, and gets a job on a local paper. Her social calendar consists of attending little intimate events by the lady folk of their fair town, with the helping hand coming from the maid. In every case the African American maid is the lynch pin for every household. Indeed Skeeter herself was as good as raised by their maid, seeing very little of her Mother.
Segregation is rife still, and looks to get worse, with a new Bill looking to be passed in Congress which would mean seperate toilets. And for Skeeter, this is one stop too far.  She decides to write a book, detailing the lifes of these African American maids, what they have to endure, the families they work for. At first the maids are reluctant to come forward and tell their story, for fear of repercussions. But soon the tide starts to turn.

The story is beautifully told, mostly through the eyes of two maids in particular, Aibileen and Minny. They not only have to deal with being treated as second rate citizens, but also with hard-ships within their own households. There are great performances all round, from a predominantly female cast, and boy do they shine.

With a running time of almost two and a half hours, it may seem a little long, but rest assured the time just flies by.

Great story, great acting,great film........8 out of 10